Safety device for swinging doors



O 1959 GJH. DETTMAN SAFETY DEVICE FOR swmcmc DOORS Filed Nov. 2, 1956 INVENTOR.

'IIIIIIIII'II'I JMHJWW? United States Patent 2510,141 SAFETY DEVICE FOR- SWINGING DOOIES ceraid ii. atman, simtiie, niL, assi uoi to" George W. Honlsby; In, Chicago, Ill. Application November 2-,- 1956, SeriaiNo. 656,005 s claims. (Cl. 26:46)

The present invention mines to safety devices for use with swinging doors} Swinging doors, when open, expose a spac'e at the rearward or hinged edge of the door, which closes when the door is closed, and this is occasionally a source of injury particularly to children, and especially so when such doors are automatically actuated. Usually the injuries are occasioned by a finger or hand being trapped between the rearward edge of the door and the jamb when the door closes, such that the hand is subjected to a rather severe crushing force. F

one object of the inventionis to provide an improved swinging door assembly in which protection against the insertion of fingers into' a ga between the hinge edge of a swinging door and an adjacent door jamb is afforded by finger excluding structure positioned and mounted in an improved mariner which completely conceals the mounting" means for the excluding struoture while' at the same time increasing the inherent s'ervi'c'e'abili'ty' and dur' ability of the excluding structure.

A further object is to provide a' swinging door a'ssem bly in which an improved construction achieves the above recited object while at the same time providing for quick and easy attachment and detachment of the finger excluding structure which bridges the gap between the door and the door jamb.

Other objects and advantages will" become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of my invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. v j M I In the drawings, in which sifiiilar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a front elevation of the lower rear corner of a door and the associated door jam'h, showing the general appearance of the door and janib with the safety accessory which forms the subject matter of the present invention installed; v e e K Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the rearward portion of a center pivot swinging door" and the associated jamb equipped with my safety'device;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the rear portion of an offset pivot door and associated jaiiib having my safety device thereon; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing" an alfefnative form the invention may take. j

Referring initially to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, I have shown a center pivoted door at 1W with the" pivotingaxislocated approximately at 12 This door is of the conventional metal type and it is associated with a jamb 14. Were it not for the protective device showiiin these figures it will be appreciated that as the door is pivoted about the axis 12 to open position, which ordinarily is from 90 to approximately 105, a considerable gap will be opened between the rearward edge of the door" 16 and the face or edge of the jar'nb 14-: This gap" is wideenough to permit the easy inadvertent" door is subsequently closed-.-

sertion' of a hand or portion thereof, such that serious injury could'result when" the 2,910,741 Patented Nov. 3, 1959 To afford protection against this type injury I apply to the front and back face of the door, in a position near the rearward edge thereof, a vertically extending anchor channel member 18: This channel member may most convenientlybe formed as an extrusion of aluminum for instance, and; h'asa flat portion 20 which is secured against the face of the door by self-tapping or sheet metal screws 22. If it is used with wood doors, wood screws may of course be used. The anchor strip 18 is so formed as to have an overhanging lip portion 24 terminating in a rib or hook 26 which extends inwardly toward the face of the door a short distance. Theoverhanging lip 24 extends away from the'rearwar'd edge of the door as shown in Fig. 2. H

Identical strips 18" are also attached to the door jamb on the front and back sides of the door near the outer edges of the jamb and in any event far enough outwardly from the rearward edge ofthe door so that there will be no interference between the rearward edge of the door and these anchor strips when the door is swung.

A generally rectangular, finger excluding strip 30 is provided at each of its vertical edges with hollow collapsible" beads 32 which are adapted to be pushed past the anchor lip 26 in face to face contact with the surface of the door 19' or jamb 14 until an outward projection upon the bead snaps into place behind the lip 26 thereby inhibiting withdrawal of the bead from the anchor strip IS. The pliable member 30, for the sake of appearance, preferably extends from top to bottom of the door and thus as the door swings, the pliable member 30 will dist'oit so as to accommodate this movement. Ordinarily when the door is closed, the member 30 will have a substantially cylindrical contour in so far as the surface seen by an observer isconcerned.

Although any of several materials may be used for forming the. member 30, I prefer to use a plastic polyvinyl chloride extrusion and I prefer that it be vertically fluted as shown at 34. This fluting is attractive in appearance and additionally contributes to the flexibility of the member, particularly in distributing the flexibility throughout the horizontal length of the member rather than concentrating the bendin'gfaction to a few regions, and yet the member retains suflicient rigidity to prevent a child from pushing it inwardly sufliciently to get a portion of the hand trapped within the slot between the rearward e'dge of the door and the door jamb. The horizontal width' of the member 30 from one vertical edge to the oth'e'r is to some extent a matter of choice, but I prefer that it have a developed width of approximately eight inches, since I have found that such length will accommodate almost all types of doors and hinging arrangements in general use.

Referring now to Fig. 3 of the drawings which shows a doo'r having an offset pivot, the door jamb in this instance is indicated at 40' and as is customary is equipped with a stop 42. The door is indicated at 44 and has an offset hinge pivot positioned at" 46. With this arrangement the installation on the side of the door away from the pivot is almost the same as previously described in connection with the center pivoted door, excepting that the anchor strip 18 is attached to' the door in a position slightly farther from the rearward edge thereof, and the similar st'rip secured to' the door jamb is preferably attacheddirectly to the stop 42. As in the previous example, the flexible member 30 is secured in place after the retaining strips 18 havebeen attached by pushing the heads at the vertical edgesthereof past the hooked edge of the retaining strips until the beadsnaps in place.

At the oppositeside of thedoor, the member 30 passes over the pivot 46 at its center and is attached by the strips 18 which are secured to the face of the door and to the face of the jamb in positions which are about screws 22 and flexible strips 30.

of about all of the types found in use, can be made on either side .of the door with identical securing strips 18, It is not necessary, therefore, to stock and use different types or sizes of these members for different type door installations. At most they would need simply to be cut to length for short doors. I v

At any time it is desired to remove the safety strip 30, either the top or bottom end can be pried outwardly from beneath the hooked edge 26 of the member 18, after which the strip canbe pealed away from the retaining strips without difliculty. If, therefore, after long service,

.it is necessary to replace the flexible member, it can easily volved. The cost is justified if production of the accessory is reasonable, but the alternative arrangement of the invention illustrated in Fig. '4 is suggested where it is desired to make use of readily available standard materials. In Fig. 4, the retaining strips 18 are replaced by the rails indicated at 50. These may be cut lengths of any of a number of hardware shapes and simply are for the purpose of providing a clamping member for-a flexible strip 52. The flexible strip 52, in the present instance, is a length of corrugated rubber used ordinarily for floor runner strips, stair treads and the like. As in the previous example I prefer to use this material with the corrugation or fluting extending vertically.

The arrangement of Fig. 4 is installed by laying the corrugated rubber member, about eight inches wide, in face to face contact with the door 54 with the corrugated surface facing the door, and'then placing the strip 50 along its rear edge. Then using the screw holes which usually are already provided in the rolled or extruded strip 50 as pilot openings, holes of appropriate'size, are

drilled through the rubber strip and into the door. Ap-' proximately an inch and a half or so from this edge of drilled in the door and through the rubber'member 52,

and the holes 56 have been provided, the strip 50 is removed and the opposite edge of the rubber strip is secured to the face of the door jamb 58 by means of screws passed through holes in the other retaining strip 50. These screws are tightened so as to complete the attachment of the edge of the flexible strip 52 to the door jamb.

Thereafter the securing strip 50 is properly located against the smooth face of flexible strip 52 at the opposite edge and the retaining screws inserted through the securing strip and the flexible strip. The diameter of the screw holes in the flexible strip is smaller than the outer diameter of the screws and therefore retains the screws in the above described inserted position. The corrugated face of the'flexible strip 52 is then placedagainst the door 54 in the original position and bent sharply over the securing strip 50 to the dotted line position shown in Fig.

4 so that a screwdriver may be insertedthrough' the openings 56 to drive the screws home in the holes previously drilled in the door 54. Thereafter, releasing'the flexible member 52 permits it to spring outwardly to the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 4.

It will be noted that with the arrangements of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, no visible trace of the mounting hardware appears in the final assembly, thereby giving an extremely neatand uncluttered appearance. In the arrangement of Fig. 4 none of thehardware is in evidence and the only interruption of .the contour of the smoothly rounded flexible strip is 'the'appearance of the several holes 56. They are, however, sufliciently close to the face of the door so that they are not obtrusive. With either arrangement, if a child pushes against the flexible member, it may bow inwardly slightly, but not sufliciently to permit any portion of the body to be caught by the closing door.

From the above description of a preferred embodiment of my invention it--will be appreciated that variations and modifications can be made without departing from either the .scope or spirit of the invention and that therefore the scope of this inventionis to be measured by the scope of theaccompanying claims, p

Having described, my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: v I

l, A safety device for. covering the space between the .hinged edge of a swinging door member and the associated vertical jamb member which comprises a flexible strip overlying said space, .one vertical edge of said strip being bent inwardly towar d the hinge and secured to the door member near the hinged edge thereof with the outer face of said strip against said door member, said strip vinwardly whereby said anchor strip inconjunction with said member'presents a. vertically extending pocket with a narrow vertical slot between said free edge and said member extending thereinto,,th'e edge portion of said flexible strip extending through saidslot and having an edge enlargement to'substantially fill said pocket, and said enlargement "being deformable to permit said enlargement to be pushed through said slot into said pocket. i

2. The combination called forin claim 1 in which the flexible strip is formed to provide a plurality of spaced apart vertically extendingparallel flutes.

3. A safety device for covering the space between the hinged edge of a swinging door member and the associated vertical jamb member which comprises a flexible strip overlying said space, one'vertical edge of said strip being bent inwardly towardth e hinge and secured to the door member near the hinged edge thereof with the outerface of said strip' toward said door member, said strip being bent inwardly toward the hinge at its opposite edge and secured with its outer face toward the'jamb member, the securing means at atleastone of said edges comprising a vertical anchor strip fastened to its member,

said strip-having a lip spaced outwardly from the last -deformable to permitsaid enlargement to be pushed through said slotinto said pocket.

4, The combination called for in claim 3 in which the flexible strip is formed to provide a plurality of spaced apart vertically extending parallel flutes.

5. A safety device for covering the space between the hinged edge of a swinging door member and the associated vertical jamb member which comprises a flexible strip overlying said space, one vertical edge of said strip being bent inwardly toward the hinge and secured to the door member near the hinged edge thereof with the outer face of said strip toward said door member, said strip being bent inwardly toward the hinge at its opposite edge and secured with its outer face toward the jamb member, said flexible strip being formed to provide a plurality of spaced apart vertically extending parallel flutes, and the major portion of said flexible strip having a substantially uniform curvature in horizontal section when the door is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 474,633 Glazier May 10, 1892 10 2,321,753 King June 15, 1943 2,693,011 Fernberg Nov. 2, 1954 2,694,234 Roby et 'al. Nov. 16, 1954 

